All birds Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
Cattle Egret
Ardea ibis
Here March to October.
Recorded by Andrew Spencer. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0, via xeno-canto, trimmed and volume evened out.
Look for
- A small, chunky white egret. You'll often see it walking next to cows or horses.
- Its yellow bill is short.
- In spring and summer, it has patches of orange-tan feathers, and its legs turn yellow or pink.
A little about it
Cattle Egrets spend the summer here. Look for them from March to October. In fall, many fly south, and some go as far as South America.
Cattle Egrets spread from Africa to South America in the 1870s and 1880s. No one had seen one in North America before 1952. Now they live over much of it.
This egret hunts in flocks in dry fields. As cows and horses walk and graze, they scare bugs out of the grass, and the egrets grab them. It eats mostly big bugs like grasshoppers and crickets.
Cattle Egrets nest in groups with other herons and egrets. The nest is a pile of sticks in a tree or bush, often with green, leafy twigs added. The young start to fly when they're about 4 weeks old.
Fun fact
In other parts of the world, Cattle Egrets follow elephants and zebras to catch bugs. They sometimes follow tractors, or even lawnmowers!
When it's here
- January: not here
- February: a few
- March: here
- April: here
- May: here
- June: here
- July: here
- August: here
- September: here
- October: here
- November: not here
- December: not here
Taller bars mean more sightings. Most often seen in May.
How big
18 to 22 inches, with wings about 3 feet across. About as big as a crow, and chunkier than other white egrets.
Where to look
Pastures where cows or horses graze, and plowed fields. It also hunts along roadsides and in flooded fields.
People have spotted it at Lake Overholser, Lake Hefner.
Could it be something else?
Great Egret
Also white, but much bigger, with a long neck. Its bill and legs are much longer, and its legs are black.
Snowy Egret
A bit bigger, with a black bill and bright yellow feet. A Cattle Egret has a short yellow bill.
Where these facts come from
- Audubon Guide to North American Birds: Western Cattle Egret
- When it's here: Sightings shared on iNaturalist in the 8 counties, all years.